The NCAA selection committee made Six look clairvoyant, awarding Hampton a No. 12 seed, where the Lady Pirates will be matched against fifth-seeded Michigan State in a first-round game 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Chapel Hill, N.C.

David Six.......Excuses, excuses!.......tsk, tsk!..... HU and the MEAC are terrible!......Bottom line..... The MEAC, along with HU, are the only conference in the the country to NEVER have won even "ONE" NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Game!..... NOT ONE!!!!.............Speaks...

“I’m happy, elated about it,” Six said Monday evening when the field was announced. “I thought that we were a 12 seed. I thought the NCAA did the right thing. I’m happy about that. I thought we got what we deserved.”

Hampton U. (28-4) won an unprecedented fifth consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title Saturday. The Lady Pirates’ 12 seed was the highest ever for a MEAC team, since the women’s field expanded to 64 teams in 1994.

Equally important, Hampton does not have to play a high seed on its home floor in the first round. Last year, as a No. 15 seed, the Lady Pirates had to play second-seeded Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“You hate to go to somebody’s home,” Six said. “I just think that’s an unfair advantage. We’re happy. We know that Michigan State is out of the Big Ten. We know that they’re a quality program, a great program. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Host North Carolina is the No. 4 seed and faces No. 13 UT-Martin in Sunday’s other first-round game. The winners of both games play Tuesday.

Eighteen of 20 previous MEAC champions received either a 15 or 16 seed. HU was a No. 13 seed in 2011 and lost in overtime to fourth seed Kentucky in Albuquerque, N.M., as close as a MEAC team has come to winning an NCAA game in the 64-team field.

HU has won 18 in a row this season and completed a second consecutive unbeaten MEAC season. The Lady Pirates have won 49 straight against MEAC competition, dating back to 2012.

“I think they’re really starting to realize our program and what we’re about, and not just look at our name,” all-conference forward Alyssa Bennett said. “I think we need more respect and we’re getting it, little by little.”

Michigan State (22-9) makes its sixth consecutive NCAA appearance and 11th in the past 12 years. The Spartans tied Penn State for the Big Ten regular-season title and lost in the tournament semifinals.

Redshirt freshman Aerial Powers is a first-team all-conference player who leads the team in scoring (13.8 ppg), rebounding (8 rpg) and steals (1.8 spg). Senior Annalise Pickrel (12.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg) was second-team all-conference. All five starters earned at least honorable mention in the league.

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